Poland has a well-deserved reputation as the IPO capital of Central and Eastern Europe, and is ending the year at it began it – with a slew of flotations. In 2006, 30 companies have floated on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE) , for a collective total of PLN 2.9 billion.
A spokesman for ING Bank Slaski in Warsaw notes that listed companies have also raised new capital through rights issues, with nearly 30 such offerings so far this year.
This month will see another 12 primary market offerings including 8 IPOs. Netherlands-based Cinema City, which floated today, is the tenth foreign company listed on the WSE. Its IPO is to be followed by companies from the USA (CEDC) and the Czech Repubic (Pegas Nonwovens), both of which have opted for dual listings on the WSE.
CEDC shares are already listed on NASDAQ, while Pegas shares will also be listed on the Prague bourse. The listings are facilitated by the link between the Polish CSD (NDS) and Clearstream Banking Luxembourg.
The ING spokesman says Ukrainian companies are also interested in floating on the WSE. Following the debut of the first Ukrainian company (Astarta), AVentures Group (an electronic appliances retailer) and Galnaftogaz (a petrochemical retailer) are also looking at listing in the Polish capital.